Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Finding Meaning in Little Details

Things pertaining to the Ancestor World and the Faery World often engage a type of “elder wisdom” which makes connections between seemingly unconnected events. To pick up on some of the things that came up on the May 3rd session, when we were drawing “Faeries Oracle” cards to pick out “Faery Friends,” one individual pulled the card, “Myk the Myomancer.” Myomancy is the art of divining by the tracks and movements of mice, so this card is about finding meaning in small things. Some of the Faeries Oracle keywords are “small clues” and “details.”

This reminds me of an interesting real life case of making connections, and it involved mice. Some years back, but not too long ago, there was an outbreak of hanta virus in the West, with many of the incidences on Indian reservations. The disease control authorities were initially unable to identify it and figure out what was going on. However, a number of elders recalled a similar outbreak in the past, and they noted that it had occurred in a year when there had been a lot of rain, a lot of pinyon nuts, and a lot of mice. As it happens, hanta virus is borne by mice, which proliferate when abundant rains produce a larger crop of pinyon nuts. We often make fun of old peoples’ rambling reminisces of things that seem trivial, but here’s a case where the memory of a bunch of little environmental details pointed to something significant.

This also reminds me of something my brother, a retired police detective said: it is usually the little, throw-away type details that crack the cases. The “Myk the Myomancer” card would obviously be a good talisman for someone who is in the business of noticing little things and making connections, such as a detective or researcher.

This card is also self-referential, being relevant to the Tarot and other types of Oracles, for here, too, we are looking for patterns that can provide explanations and help us make predictions. Whenever we find images in the cards that relate to other little things that are going on in our lives, this is a delightful affirmation of the holographic nature of reality. Among people who believe in fairies, it is commonly claimed that Fairy World energies are involved in helping to generate little coincidences, and in prodding us to notice them.

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About Me

I am a scholar of folklore, psychology, medical anthropology, the material culture of magic, ritual studies, history, and literature. My books include Tarot Spells, Tarot Your Everyday Guide (winner of 2001 Coalition of Visionary Resources award for best Self Help book), Tarot for a New Generation (2002 COVR winner, best General Interest Title), and By Candlelight: Rites for Celebration, Blessing and Prayer (2005 COVR runner-up, Spirituality). I continue to work on multiple books, with ongoing research projects exploring the ways folk magic and medicinal techniques can apply to modern problems, including the modulation of Asperger’s Syndrome and other neuro-sensory processing problems.

Pop in for a Spell!

On the first Sunday of every month from April through November, I hold magical chats at the Triple Goddess Bookstore in Okemos, Michigan, where I teach new divination techniques—doing Tarot readings or other types of readings as part of the group demonstration. I may also lead visitors through magical activities involving Tarot and other types of Oracles, walk people through different types of spells to promote health and well-being, present seasonal enchantments, lecture on folk magic, charms, etc., and offer my opinions on anything else that anyone cares to talk about. These sessions are free and casual, so anyone can pop in or out at any time, (between 1 and 3 p.m.). I also occasionally visit other stores in Michigan.

I am a scatter-brained person who has a hard time remembering everything I want to say, so oftentimes I forget to mention things that would enhance peoples’ magical experience, or better clarify their readings or their understanding of the different topics we cover. Therefore, I am using this blog to bring up a few of the thoughts I have for upcoming sessions--then, afterward, I will offer a retrospective to bring up things I'd like to add—providing that my antiquated computer and rural phone lines enable me to get onto the Internet. Also, I will attempt to answer any questions that anyone thinks of afterward—again, providing that I’m able to get onto the Net. I am also open to other suggestions, or activities that people would like to see repeated.